Local Kia distributor has just announced the arrival of the new Kia Forte hatchback, fresh off the back of the recently-revised Forte models with new six-speed gearboxes earlier this year.

Oddly enough, as I was driving the six-speed Cerato Forte the other day, I was wondering to myself, when will Kia bring in the Forte hatchback, if at all.

And lo and behold, they have done!

It promises to be exciting times ahead for fans of Korean-made cars. Chevrolet and Kia fired the first salvos earlier this year with revised versions of their Cruze and Cerato Forte sedans respectively.

Hyundai was prepared to hit back with the launch of their new Avante replacement (which will re-use the Elantra name once again) in the next couple of months, but Kia pulled off another trick by releasing the Forte hatchback.

We're expecting the Cruze hatchback before this year is out too, so all three manufacturers are most certainly battling hard for the consumer's dollar.

I guess especially so now with COE prices showing no signs of coming down, Korean carmakers have to fight even harder for a decreasing slice of the Singapore automotive pie.

Which can only mean more choices for us. Now, would that be a good thing or a bad thing?